GO OUT AND INVITE ALL YOU CAN
Every one of us is a servant
of the great King, and Christ is His Son. The heavenly Father sends us out to
invite everyone to share the spiritual feast offered by His Church.
I would like to begin
by sharing a story: After Mass, Joe approached his pastor, "Father, you
talked about inviting people to our services. I had an experience in the Army.
Bill and I were buddies, both Catholic, but Bill never went to Mass. We were having a
five-day retreat on the base and I asked Bill to come along but he had some
kind of excuse. The second and third night there were more excuses. Finally, on
the fourth night he came with me to the chapel. Something hit him, because from
then on he went with me to Mass and Communion regularly. That was several years
ago. I haven't seen him since, but he writes to me every year and thanks me for
asking him to go to that retreat."
Jesus just told us the
Kingdom of Heaven is like a king who gave a
marriage feast for his son. The Kingdom
of Heaven includes the
family of God here on earth. The marriage feast is the table loaded with
spiritual food. My thought for today is that every one of us is a servant of
the great King, and Christ is His Son. The heavenly Father sends us out to
invite everyone to share the spiritual feast offered by His Church.
Who are the people we
can invite? Practically everyone! Too many of our fellow Catholics have never
attended a mission, a retreat, or a bible study. Fallen-away Catholics often
need but a little nudge to start them on their way back to the family of God. I
am thinking especially of the many who do not attend any church and of our
friends of other faiths who are looking for the spiritual nourishment we have
in the Blessed Sacrament. Where do we meet these possible guests? They could be
neighbors, schoolmates, fellow workers and relatives. They could be chance
acquaintances at a game, at the store, on the bus or in the doctor's waiting
room. Don't limit your invitation to the so-called respectable people. Invite
the underprivileged, the outcast, the sinner just as the king commanded in
today's Gospel, "Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the
feast whomever you find" (Mt 22:9).
In the first reading
we hear, "On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all
peoples...'Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us! This is the Lord for
whom we looked; let us rejoice and be glad that He has saved us!' For the hand
of the Lord will rest on this mountain" (Is 25:6, 9 - 10a).
I also want to invite
you to a special place in our diocese, Immaculate Heart
Retreat Center.
It is a holy place, a "peaceful place to pray and ponder;" a place of
repentance, restoration and transformation. God speaks to us in a whisper but
our world is so noisy. During my years as director of the retreat center, I
have come to learn more and more that people are seeking "Hope, Peace and
Healing." We are in a rapidly changing and very busy world, and it is
important to keep our spiritual bearings. Materialism will not give us what we
are looking for and it is easy to be distracted by the wrong values. A retreat
experience helps us on the path to God. Healing will occur because it involves
God and because you will have had the opportunity to become rejuvenated; you
will find new strength and courage to sustain you on your life journey. And you
will go back into the world and its challenges with renewed grace from God.
Like our ancestors who
journeyed to the "Holy
Mountain," we can
gather together as a community of believers, of faith, to pray together or
simply to find God in solitary reflection. Take this invitation for yourselves
and invite others. Then go back to your parish family and attend Mass often,
receive the sacraments and become more involved in your family and community.
Pray to God more often and make God part of every minute of your life. That's
restoring and transforming! Now, you can turn down this invitation and I can
say I did my duty, but I hope you take this opportunity to come to this gem we
have in our diocese!
In the Responsorial
Psalm for this Sunday we acclaim, "I shall live in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life" (Ps 23:6cd). It's about knowing our Shepherd, who
is the Lord, and walking, living and being with Him on our daily journey.